Assessing Adolescent and Adult Attachment: A Review of Current Self-Report Measures

Increased interest in attachment theory among counseling researchers and practitioners has led to the development of several measures of attachment-related constructs. Following a brief overview of the theoretical foundations of attachment theory as conceptualized by Ainsworth (1989) and Bowlby (1988), the authors of this article review four self-report measures of adolescent and adult attachment. Many considerations for the selection and use of these instruments in future counseling research and assessment are discussed.     

Attachment: Implications for Counselors

This article discusses how attachment theory can be a useful strategy for producing therapeutic change and more productive client functioning. It also addresses the basic concepts of attachment theory and the parallels between counseling and attachment. A case example is provided to focus, integrate, and elaborate the elements presented.     

Developmental Personality Styles: An Attachment Theory Conceptualization of Personality Disorders

Attachment theory, as a developmentally based theory of personality formation, provides a viable framework for understanding the development and maintenance of personality disorders, or what A. E. Ivey and M. B. Ivey (1998) have referred to as “developmental personality styles.” Using K. Bartholomew's (1990) 4‐dimensional model of adult attachment as an organizational framework, 10 developmental personality styles are differentiated regarding their unique attachment experiences, working models of self and other, and feedforward beliefs. Implications of an attachment theory framework for counseling clients with problematic developmental personality styles are discussed.     

Attachment in Adult Child-Older Parent Relationships: Research,Theory, and Practice

Greater longevity has increased the years that adult children share with their older parents, yet it creates the potential for family stress situations that may be amenable to counseling intervention. In this article, the authors examined an attachment theory perspective for conceptualizing adult child—older parent issues by introducing the basic constructs of attachment theory and by demonstrating how the theory and its related research can be applied to adult children's struggles with older parental issues.     

Spirituality,Self‐Representations,and Attachment to Parents: A Longitudinal Study of Roman Catholic College Seminarians

The author used an attachment theory framework to explore relationships between early attachment to parents and seminarians' later self‐representations and relationship with God. Attachment to mother was a key variable in predicting seminarians' level of self‐esteem and internalized shame as well as the quality of their relationship with God. This study suggests that a secure relationship with God may, over time, have a moderating effect on low self‐esteem. Furthermore, an individual's style of early attachment to mother may influence the quality of later spiritual experiences in relation to God. Implications for counseling are discussed from the perspective of attachment theory.     

Model of Effects of Adult Attachment on Emotional Empathy of Counseling Students

The effects of adult attachment on emotional empathy were investigated using a sample of master's‐degree level counseling students. Through structural equation modeling, the authors found that the latent attachment dimensions of avoidance and anxiety work in tandem in their effects on empathy. Lower avoidance and higher anxiety were associated with highest levels of empathy. Results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and the wounded healer concept, with implications for counselor trainees, counselor educators, and counselor supervisors.     

Helping Clients Move Toward Constructive Change: A Three-Phase Integrated Counseling Model

This article presents a 3-phase integrated counseling model that draws from object relations and attachment theory for assessment and uses cognitive behavioral techniques to promote constructive client change. A case vignette is presented to illustrate implementation of the model.     

Parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in an academic counseling relationship

The role of parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in the context of an academic counseling relationship was investigated. Prior to participation in a 10‐hour academic counseling program in college, 91 students completed scales assessing perceptions of their current relationship with their parents and their attachment style. Students' support‐seeking behaviors and counselors' sensitivity, as reported by both participants (students and counselors), were evaluated twice during the counseling process, and general feelings of support were evaluated at the end of the program. Parental representations and attachment style both predicted students' support‐seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in counseling. The strength of the prediction differed as a function of time of measurement and source of evaluation. In addition, student‐perceived counselor sensitivity was found to mediate the relation between parental representations and support‐seeking behaviors in counseling     

Attachment Theory and Religiosity: A Summary of Empirical Research With Implications for Counseling Christian Clients

The authors summarize the growing body of empirical research literature in the area of psychology of religion that has been guided by attachment theory and indicate implications for counseling, including practical suggestions for case conceptualization, possible spiritual interventions, and ethical guidelines for practice. Attachment theory provides a fertile framework whereby counselors may conceptualize the religious experiences of Christian clients whose spirituality involves the belief in and relationship with a personal God.     

Disentangling the effects of depression symptoms and adult attachment on emotional disclosure

Individuals with high levels of depression symptoms and individuals with insecure attachment orientations have been shown to limit their use of emotional disclosure as a means of emotion regulation. However, little is known about how depression symptoms and insecure attachment orientations might jointly predict whether individuals engage in emotional disclosure. The authors addressed this question using both inter- and intraindividual approaches. College students (N = 121) completed measures of depression symptoms, adult attachment orientation, and generalized disclosure tendencies. To obtain an intraindividual measure of emotional disclosure, participants also completed an online daily diary in which they rated the intensity of the day's most unpleasant event and their disclosure of that event for 7 days. Results indicated that depression symptoms were negatively related to generalized disclosure tendencies and to intraindividual daily intensity-disclosure slopes. Attachment avoidance was negatively related to both generalized disclosure tendencies and to daily disclosure, and attachment anxiety moderated the relation between daily event intensity and disclosure. The authors discuss the implications for theory and counseling psychology practice.     

Assessing Adolescent and Adult Attachment: An Update

This article provides an update on two significant contributions to the assessment of attachment in adolescents and adults. Two measures of adult attachment, both based on modifications of Hazan and Shaver's (1987) model of adult attachment, are reviewed. The conceptual bases for the development of each measure are discussed, current research involving each measure is presented, and implications of attachment assessment for counseling research and practice are offered.     

Morality and Adult Attachment Style as Predictors of Psychotherapy Process and Outcome Expectations

This study examined whether moral foundations and adult attachment style predict expectations for counseling. Hierarchical regression models were used to analyze self‐report questionnaires of 963 participants. Moral foundations related to harm–care, fairness–reciprocity, and authority–respect were significantly positively related to both process and outcome counseling expectations. Adult attachment anxiety was positively related to outcome expectations, whereas adult attachment avoidance was negatively related to process and outcome expectations. Moral foundations and adult attachment style are important predictors of therapy process and outcome expectations. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.     

Developmental Science and Counseling

Developmental counseling is a promising model integrating theory and practice. A. E. Ivey's (2000; A. E. Ivey & O. F. Goncalves, 1988) work is discussed as a template for proposing a more comprehensive developmental perspective. Where A. E. Ivey's model renders a case for cognition, the current article encompasses other developmental systems driving cognitive processes, such as attachment, self, and affect. A developmental systems theory is advanced as one possible solution to the limitations of available models. Application to case vignettes and a rethinking of style shift are offered.     

The effect of client attachment style and counselor functioning on career exploration

This longitudinal research investigated the interactive effect of social attachment style and perceived-counselor behavior on exploratory behavior exhibited by clients during and after career counseling. Results from 96 clients in career counseling indicated that social confidence and comfort, and the perception that the counselor had created social comfort and personal security, enhanced the range and effectiveness of career exploration by the client. The counselor’s functioning as a “secure base” moderated the association between clients’ avoidance and anxiety attachment style and their career exploration. Specifically, when the clients who were high in social avoidance or in social anxiety perceived-counselors as providing an atmosphere in which they feel secure, they engaged in career exploration far more than similar clients who did not perceive their counselor as a secure base.     

当事人眼中的团体辅导效果：基于协商一致的质性研究

目的：本文从当事人的视角,深入研究团体辅导对于团体成员所产生的作用。方法：采用协商一致的质性研究（CQR）方法,对15个来自不同团体的当事人的深度访谈材料进行分析。结果：发现与团体辅导效果相关的域有4个,即团体辅导的过程效果、团体辅导效果获得的过程和体验、团体辅导效果的影响因素,团体辅导的后续效果。结论：当事人眼里团体辅导效果的内容广泛且丰富,团体依恋既是团体辅导效果的内容也是基础性的疗效因子。     

Attachment,Coping, Acculturative Stress,and Quality of Life Among Haitian Immigrants

This study investigated the relationship between attachment, coping, acculturative stress, and quality of life (QOL) in a sample of Haitian immigrants in the United States. Results indicated that an increase in years living in the United States and greater anxiety attachment were negatively associated with QOL and that higher levels of adaptive coping were associated with higher QOL and lower levels of acculturative stress. Implications for counseling and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The effect of client attachment style and counselor functioning on career exploration

This longitudinal research investigated the interactive effect of social attachment style and perceived-counselor behavior on exploratory behavior exhibited by clients during and after career counseling. Results from 96 clients in career counseling indicated that social confidence and comfort, and the perception that the counselor had created social comfort and personal security, enhanced the range and effectiveness of career exploration by the client. The counselor’s functioning as a “secure base” moderated the association between clients’ avoidance and anxiety attachment style and their career exploration. Specifically, when the clients who were high in social avoidance or in social anxiety perceived-counselors as providing an atmosphere in which they feel secure, they engaged in career exploration far more than similar clients who did not perceive their counselor as a secure base.     

Understanding Attachment: Beliefs About Conflict

This study examined attachment prototype, attachment‐related feelings about conflict, style of expressing conflict, and conflict tactics using self‐report questionnaires from 188 volunteer college students. Analysis indicated that (a) persons who endorsed secure attachment reported feeling less threat from arguing than those endorsing preoccupied or fearful attachment and less concern with closeness during conflict than those endorsing preoccupied attachment, (b) persons endorsing dismissing attachment reported significantly more conflict avoidance than the securely attached, and (c) those endorsing secure attachment reported significantly less fighting and more effective arguing than those endorsing fearful attachment. Implications for preventive and remedial counseling are discussed.     

Adult attachment orientations: Relation to affiliation motivation

This study examines the multifaceted relationship between attachment and affiliation motivation. In a sample of 322 participants differences were found between attachment styles or dimensions and affiliation motivation. Anxious attachment was positively related to seeking attention from others, social comparison, and positive stimulation as motivations for affiliation. Avoidant attachment was negatively related to emotional support and positive stimulation as motivations for affiliation. Also, results indicated that individuals with a dismissing attachment style scored lower on several dimensions of affiliation motivation than individuals characterized by secure, fearful, or preoccupied attachment styles. Implications for the impact of attachment on motivation to seek social support and counseling are discussed.     

Interdependence in Ethnic Identity and Self: Implications for Theory and Practice

This article broadens the conceptual framework of ethnic identity theory by integrating an interdependent perspective of self into counseling theory and practice. An extensive review of ethnic identity theory is presented with a focus on the literature emphasizing the relational and cultural context in the development of self. A dynamic, situationally based theory of ethnic identity is presented, and implications for counseling from an interdependent perspective are discussed.